PARIS!
RIVER SEINE
Briefly, for anyone still looking at my blog, Paris was gorgeous! A lovely city, well worth it's reputation. Here's what we did, (copy and pasted from an email I sent Nella):
So this is what we did:
1. Friday - went to top of the Eiffel Tower - which took FOREVER - it's an all-day affair waiting in various lines. but it was cool amazing views and man, i was at the top of the Eiffel Tower, like how cool is that??
2. Saturday - Arc de Triomphe, a big arc in the middle of the road and we walked up 250+ steps on a winding stairwell. That was totally crazy, we all felt ill by the time we got to the top and it's so scary - just constant winding that seems neverending. but anyway, the view was way cool.
ARC DE TRIOMPHE (we walked to the top, those are people way up there!)
3. Same day - the rest of the day in the Louvre where we saw, amongst others, the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Totally fantastic, just amazing.
SHAKY PIC OF VENUS DE MILO (C. 100 BC)
4. Sunday - Notre Dame Cathedral, Conciergerie (where Marie Antoinette was held before they chopped her head off), Saint Chappelle (church that is basically made up of big stained glass windows), the Pantheon (large church/temple and has the crypts of Marie Curie, Victor Huga, Jean Jacques Rousseau and other famous french folks), la Place de la Concorde (big Egyptian obelisk from Luxor in the middle of a huge square, near the Jardins des Tuileries), and that night we saw the lights of paris and it was beautiful. We went to the top of Montmarte to a church called Sacre-Coeur, and you could see all the lights all around. Then we went to Place de la Trocadero for a view of the Eiffel Tower all lit up, and did you know that on the hour it sparkles? They have these blinking lights and it looks so pretty!
NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL
PLACE DE LA TROCADERO (this is the view of it from the top of the Eiffel Tower)
This was the first trip that HD and I took with other folk - this time accompanied by SupaC and his cousin, Sir Tuffster Bougnat III - don't ask, it's a French joke. :D Fun and good travelling companions, although not helpful with taking part in the daily duties, so again I was the unofficial tour guide. I'll post more pics again!
Spring
It's almost spring here in London, or it is already, I'm not sure of the exact date, and the weather was cooperating up until this Sunday. Since then it's been cold and wet everyday but I think we're getting out of it tomorrow, I hope!
Not much to report - just working at the same place and it's been going ok. At first I didn't like it but now I'm used to it. HD is cool too - in fact she may be able to stay on after July (which is when we were planning on coming home).
Paris is the biggest thing coming up. The 2 May Bank Holiday weekends are also around the corner - so far we've planned to go to Brighton for the day during the first one. For the second we may stick around London as it's HD's 28th bday so there'll be some celebrating to do.
Okay, that's about it for now- Corrie St's on!
Update
It's been quite a while but I haven't forgotten about my blog. It's just with the end of my last job at the law firm there hasn't been much opportunity for posting! Gotta make this quick as I'm at the internet cafe right now. My new job is right by the Tower of London - surreal seeing a tourist attraction everyday because it becomes so normal. The job is ok, it's at a big bank but the pay is decent. Anyway, we're going to Paris! We booked it for the Easter weekend so that's totally exciting. So now I'm saving up for that - money already spent before I've even made it! Okay, gotta run...bye for now, will post again. :)
Tower Bridge & area
Here's the Tower Bridge, built in 1894 it was the most sophisticated bridge built in its time. It's one of those bridges that open up in the middle to let large boats pass.
This is the Tower of London - situated nearby Tower Bridge and by the tube stop Tower Hill. It's over 900 years old and was founded by William the Conqueror in 1066-7.
It's been a fortress, prison, place of execution, mint, arsenal, menagerie and jewel house. I haven't gone inside yet but maybe before it's time to go home I will take a tour.
Thurs afternoon
It's been a long time since my last post but February has been a rather blah month. A few
highlights I turned 29 and my wallet was stolen on the tube - how London. Besides that, there hasn't been much to say. Today is my 2nd last day at work at the law firm. I don't know if I already mentioned but it's located in what's called The City. There seem to be 3 main areas of London - City, Central and West End. So when I worked at KF that was in Central (I think) and when we got to Leicester Square that's in the West End (which is also where all the theatres are) and the City is where the big banks/law firms/major corporations are and it's basically east central London. Anyway, I'll continue posting pics soon. :)
Kensington Palace
This past weekend was a throwback to the early days in London, when every weekend was spend sightseeing. Supa came down and we went to the Tate Modern on Friday night and the British Museum on Saturday. Saw much more of the BM this time as it doesn't seem to suck Supa's energy the way it did to poor HD. :)
Way back in October Nella popped over from home to visit HD & I for 2 weeks. During this time we did quite a lot of sightseeing in London and I took a bunch of pictures which I never posted. Since we're taking a break now from travelling outside the country due to insufficient funds, I think it's a good time to post some of these pics.
So here's Kensington Palace & Gardens. Nella & I went on a nice fall afternoon to check out the one-time home of Princess Diana, Queen Victoria, and other royals.
The Orangery also known as the Greenhouse, it used to be used to house plants during winter and now is the palace restaurant.
Sunken Garden
Queen Victoria, sculpted by her fourth daughter, Princess Louise who was a resident in the palace from 1873 to 1939. The statue shows the Queen at the time of her accession and was commissioned by the residents of Kensington to commemorate her Golden Jubilee in 1887. It was erected in its present position in 1893, in a ceremony attended by the Queen herself.
Kensington Palace
Fungus rock
I've got so many pics to post still - not just of Malta but of previous times. They're more fun than just a bunch of words, eh?
So this is Fungus Rock - located in Gozo in the same place as the Blue Window posted earlier. In the distant past, it was believed the fungus from the rock was a cure-all for ailments.
